To say it is "cowardly" to consider assassination is just plain silly, just as it was absurd to call the 9/11 hijackers cowards. A coward is someone who: lacks courage in facing danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.; is a timid or easily intimidated person; is very fearful or timid; or who acts from fear or timidity. If you think that carrying out an assassination or a suicidal plane crash for a heartfelt cause is an act rooted in fear or timidity, all I can say is you've got a different dictionary than I do. I get scared shitless when a plane hits turbulence, and extremely uncomfortable if I even have to tell someone something they may not want to hear. An assassination? I'd crap my pants and possibly have a heart attack before I got out the door! Do you think that Claus von Stauffenberg or others who tried to assassinate Hitler were cowards? Please.
Not to assassinate a criminal who may well kill your relatives (think nuclear holocaust, global warming, provoking terrorists), because it might be considered "criminal" BY the "criminal" or his criminal buddies, is nothing less than insanity. We need better reasons than labels of "cowardly" or "criminal" to stave off an assassination.
And let me be honest on this: As much as I appreciate articles on impeachment, especially fine ones like Linda's, I do believe that if I have to read another, I'm going to have a powerful urge to assassinate myself! Talk, talk, talk; talk, talk, talk, but nothing seems to be changing. Some of us are doers and we get a little weary of all the talking, important though it may be.